The Gambia in 2011

Area:

11,632 sq km (4,491 sq mi)

Population

(2011 est.): 1,776,000

Capital:

Banjul

Head of state and government:

President Col. Yahya Jammeh

As The Gambia—a sliver of a country surrounded on three sides by Senegal—moved toward its November 2011 presidential election, there were widespread reports of human rights abuses against those opposed to Pres. Yahya Jammeh, who was serving his third term as elected president. The official period for opposition parties to campaign was reduced to only 11 days in November. Journalists and civil society activists were harassed, and the president controlled the judiciary. With independent radio stations banned, only the state-run radio broadcast news. The state’s Intelligence Agency was said to be involved in extrajudicial detentions and the torture of journalists and opposition protesters. In June treason charges were brought against a former government minister and others for having distributed T-shirts carrying slogans that called for an end to dictatorship in the country. In July, as Jammeh celebrated the 17th anniversary of the coup by which he had come to power, international human rights organizations reported that a climate of fear had gripped the country.

Government-appointed local leaders rallied behind Jammeh, though they had not been successful in the previous year’s campaign to have him crowned the king of Gambia. As the Nov. 24, 2011, election drew near, Jammeh said that no election or coup would remove him from office because God had placed him there. He was reelected with 72% of the vote, although the poll was clouded by accusations of intimidation, fraud, and media bias in favour of Jammeh during the run-up to the election.